


You Can't Keep A Good Counselor (Or Camper) Down!

by CookieCatSU



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Also a little shit, And Bitter, Basically, David Acting as Max's Parental Figure | Dadvid (Camp Camp), David Adopts Max (Camp Camp), David-centric (Camp Camp), End of Summer at Camp Campbell (Camp Camp), Gen, Max curses alot, Max is Ten, Max's parents abandon him at camp, Max-centric (Camp Camp), Mild Language, This one's about Max and David
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:34:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26638912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CookieCatSU/pseuds/CookieCatSU
Summary: "What's this?" Max demands, pointing a fork at his plate."They're pancakes," David replies happily."Pancakes, shaped into smiley faces… Are you three, David?"Or; Max spends the summer with David.
Relationships: David & Max (Camp Camp)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 169





	You Can't Keep A Good Counselor (Or Camper) Down!

David always tries to see the best in everyone. It's just what he does. He sees good, where others may not. Even the biggest, baddest rain clouds have silver linings, after all, and that applied to people, too.

"That two timing, scheming piece of shit is just using you," Jasper snaps at him, little hands balled into shaky fists, "How can you not see that?"

"You're wrong" Is David's adamant rebuttal, because he always saw the _good,_ before the bad, even when there was none. 

He sees the good in Campbell, buried beneath lies and deceit and hurt.

When David first sees Maxwell, he sees potential. He sees a kid, just needing to be nurtured.

The boy scowls up at David, thumbs hooked in the edges of his hoodie pocket, red sneakers already scuffed up with the dirt kicked up by the now departing bus. He looks _angry._

He's probably just impatient to get the day started, David tells himself.

"Welcome to Camp Campbell! Boy, are we gonna have a great time tog-!"

Max's eyes harden, then he rears his leg back nearly a mile, and he kicks him in the shin as hard as he can.

David howls, stumbling back, the noise cut off halfway in his throat. Salty hot tears prick the corner of his eyes.

Yep. This kid just needed some guidance. Definitely.

Once David recovers, he offers a watery smile, and reaches the hand he'd been cradling his leg with to ruffle Maxwell's hair.

"That's alright. I know adjusting might take some time-"

"Get the hell offa me" Max screams, slapping his hands away.

Then he just huffs, and stomps off.

Yep. 

That was absolutely a kid in need of some guidance. Max just needed someone to show him the splendors of the outdoors, maybe turn that frown upside down, and David was more than happy to provide!

* * *

Max doesn't smile much. David thinks he's seen him smile twice, though one of those was more like half a smirk, and he wasn't sure it counted.

David is determined to help. Max just seems so unhappy. He drags around and glares at the ground and slouches in his hoodie.

David doesn't see a no good trouble maker, like others might, when he looks at Max. David just sees a child who is angry, and disillusioned by the world, and he understands so deeply, it hurts. 

He'd been that kid.

And he would have done anything, to have someone to help him. So how could he not help someone else now that he's got the chance?

* * *

"We do have to go home, eventually" Neil had said.

Max just rolled his eyes. "Not me"

Leaving day is tense. Everyone is excited to go home, to see their families, but no one quite wants to say goodbye. So they don't. They savor every moment like it will be their last… because it is, really, and their parents could arrive at any moment.

It's their last chance. Last chance to have one more, big adventure. To spend a few more hours with the family they've formed with their fellow Campbell campers.

Evening comes, eventually.

Nikki is the first to go. She sighs, but turns to follow her mother with a wave. "Stay in touch," she calls, and all she leaves in her wake is a scribbled phone number in Neil's pocket notebook, and that last gnawed fidget spinner she'd been so fond of. Max calls it gross, but stows it in his pocket anyway.

The next to leave is Neil. He huffs, dramatic and loud, when he realizes which of his parents is picking him up.

"Shit. There's dad. Ugh. I have to go, Max" He stands, brushes off his pants, and turns to Max with a lopsided smile, "You better call for real, man. I don't think I can survive a whole week with nobody but me and my dad and that damn sock. Fucking Sock-crates"

Max attempts a smile. He feels a little sick, but he stumbles to his feet, and looks away like he couldn't give less of a shit.

"Yah, sure man. Expect a shitty ass pic of David… probably while he's sleeping. Then you'll know it's me"

"Neil, come on!" His dad shouts, body half hanging out of the gray SUV's driver side window, "The theater waits for no man, just like philosophy"

"Okay, really got to go" Neil grits his teeth, "Don't say that shit out loud dad~ it's super embarrassing"

"Okie dokie, little artichokie"

And then Neil is gone. Max watches him climb into that beat up ass Volkswagen with his dad, and they fuss, for a bit, but then there is laughter, and Max can see the way Mr. Adelman ruffles Neil's hair through the passenger window. Neil huffs and snaps something, and Mr. Adelman laughs and just starts rambling. Max's stomach flips again, because it's so fucking normal, and he's never had that. Not with his piece of shit of an old man.

He turns away, stuffs his hands in his hoodie, and tries not to feel too much like garbage.

Harrison is next. Nerris. Preston. Space Kid. Ered.

Nurf.

Dolph. Even Dolph.

And then Max is the last one left. Max is alone.

He plops on the steps of the Dining Hall, and he huffs and puffs, but he doesn't wait, because he knows they won't come.

They were leaving him here. 

They didn't give a enough of a fuck to come retrieve him. A twenty minute drive was just too much of a burden, huh?

Probably just glad he's out of their hair.

He fishes the fidget spinner out of his pocket, and brushes his fingers over the rough, gnawed edges, and does his best not to cry.

* * *

The dining hall is empty and silent and depressing. David's still smiling, fork in hand, speared through liquidy smashed potatoes. Max picks at his food, but isn't particularly hungry.

"Your folks seem to be taking their sweet time," David says.

"I fucking told you already, this shit was a one way trip. They shipped me off, and then they decided it was too much trouble to take the time to get me. Jackasses"

David looks appalled. Offended beyond belief. He gasps, and covers his left ear with his freehand, "Max, Language!"

"Oh, come on, David. There's no one else fucking here, loosen up. Damn. Not like it matters"

Maxwell glares at whatever bit of red was floating in his mash.

"Typical" And he flicks it out, and then throws his fork across the dining hall for good measure. It slams against the wall, with a surprisingly loud splintering crack of cheap plastic.

He doesn't really feel any better.

David leaves him alone, at least.

* * *

David huffs, glaring at the paperwork scattered in front of him. Camp might be over, but a counselor's work is never really done, is it? They still have release forms to finish up, not to mention forms for those adamant on returning.

That doesn't even touch on the camper still there, who David can see sitting with his head in his hands, slumped on the steps of the Dining Hall, halfway across camp. He watches Max stand, kick a rock with a snarl, and then drag himself in the direction of the docks.

David sighs. It's getting dark. It's getting dark, and Maxwell is still there. He shouldn't _still_ be there. He should be home.

He throws his pen on his desk with a huff.

"There's no way they just forgot him. They couldn't have left him, right? I'm sure they'll be here before we know it"

Gwen makes an uncertain noise in the back of her throat, "That's a nice thought, David, but I'm starting to have my doubts"

"I mean, they _can't_ do that, can they. It's just wrong" David taps his finger against his desk. Parents didn't just leave they're children to strangers, to wolves, who could just as easily take them in, as eat them alive. Parents didn't do that. Even bad ones.

"They've got to come back"

"Maybe you should take a rest, huh?" She reaches out to touch his shoulder, tone quiet. He jerks back, and rapidly shakes his head.

"No! I mean, uh, no, you go ahead, Gwen! I'll just stay up a little longer, so I can keep an eye on things, make sure everything is smooth sailing" He offers a little slip of a smile, "I know how much you appreciate your beauty sleep, so don't run yourself ragged on my accord. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning, in tip top shape!"

She hesitates, for a moment, hand lingering on his shoulder, expression concerned because she knows that look in his eyes, blown wide and frantic, but her exhaustion wins out, ultimately. She yawns, and decides it's futile to attempt to argue him down. He'd stay up no matter what she said.

Besides, David was a grown adult. He could handle himself. He's proven that, time and time again.

"Well, alright. See you in the morning. And if you need me, you know I'm only a door down, yeah?" She squeezes his hand, fixes him with a look that says, _I got your back, ya hear,_ and he smiles in silent thanks and squeezes just as tenderly back. Then Gwen pulls away, and starts the stumbling trek back to her own cabin.

David turns back to the window with a sigh of relief, places his chin in his hand, and waits. The sky is darkening rapidly, and there's no sign of Max's parents, but they'd come. David knew they would come. They had to come.

Goodness, he really hoped they'd come. For Max's sake. For his well being. For _his_ sake. For his sanity.

He wasn't sure what he'd do if they didn't.

When he wakes up the next morning, the side of his cheek and his hand is wet with drool, face crusty with dry spittle. The sun is shining through the blinds to cut diagonal across his face, bright in his eyes. He yawns, with a little smile, and is a little confused to find that his back is stiff, and his arms hurt. Huh. Well, _he_ must of gotten up on the wrong side of the bed. Ha ha.

It takes him a moment to realize he's not in his bed. He never got into bed, in fact. He fell asleep sitting at his desk, which explains the little crick in his neck (nothing ice and a good stretch can't fix!), and he'd been… right, he'd been waiting for Max's parents to arrive.

He casts his eyes across the grounds, and feels his heart sink a little when he sees no other vehicles outside, beside the Counselor Mobile.

Perhaps Max's parents already came to get him, he thinks hopefully. Maybe they already came to get him, and left sometime last night, which meant… he wouldn't get to see Max again, but he would be safe and cared for and with his family, and what more could David want for him? It is weird that he didn't hear a vehicle running at any point last night, because the sound of an engine roaring should have been unmistakably foreign in the peaceful, woodland silence, but he _had_ fallen asleep. He probably just missed them. 

They probably just hadn't been able to come sooner.

There is a little ache in David's chest at the idea of never seeing Max again, but in the end, he's just glad he's okay. That brings a smile to his face, and he finds himself whistling as he stands up from his desk, ready to face the day. Yes, the camp would be quiet… even lonely, maybe, but David had Gwen, and the forest, and the knowledge that his campers are happy, wherever they may be, and what more could he possibly need?

He hears knocking at his cabin door, and walks over with a skip in his step. It was probably Gwen, coming over to talk plans for the day! How exciting!

"Coming right there! Don't get your laces in a knot, friend!" He calls in a sing-song tone, and he reaches for the doorknob and throws the cabin door open, and is surprised to see Max at his door, hand half raised to slam against the wood again. The boy puffs and scowls.

"Took you long enough, dumbass" Max says, dropping his arm down to his side with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh, Max, hey-" David offers a confused smile.

Max was still here. Which meant… oh, they... never came.

"Yeah?" Max scowls at him harder, "You're acting like you weren't expecting me to still _be here_ or something. Nothing magical happened last night. I told you they wouldn't-"

David hardly hears him. Blood is rushing to his cheeks, and his ears are roaring, and his fingernails dig into his palms because he's angry. For once, he is fired up _angry,_ and unashamed about it, because he can't believe they'd do something like this.

They left him.

His fingers dig into the dented metal of the doorknob, until there are deep lingering impressions in his skin that probably wouldn't fade for hours. 

They actually left him.

"Oh, Sassafras!" He snaps, as the full meaning of that dawns on him.

They _left_ their son.

* * *

"Are you going to be good here, alone?" Gwen asks, for perhaps the third time in the last couple minutes.

David understands her concern.

It's a lot of work looking over an entire campground on one's own, even, or perhaps especially, considering Camp Campbell is in such ill repair. He must admit that the work, of fixing the swing sets and maintaining the dock, and getting real equipment for Science Camp, would go a lot faster with two sets of hands on deck, but he can't keep her.

Gwen has family to go see, a life beyond the camp, after all, and he refuses to be the one to stop her from enjoying it. He couldn't do that to her.

"Yeah"

She huffs, head still sticking out of the car window. They both know she would cancel the whole trip, if David asked her to, two months of planning be darned. They both know this, but David never asks. He couldn't.

Gwen squints. "You sure?"

They also both know that David might come, if only pushed a little further. Gwen had been asking if he wanted to accompany her for weeks, already. He always said no, even if some deep down part of him wanted quite desperately to be by her side, because he had responsibilities. He had a camp to run, to care for, and his roots - every last tie that mattered - were tapped under the Counselor Cabin's wooden floorboards and stretched beneath the woodland moss. He had to stay.

Gwen knows this.

"I'm sure! I'll hold down the fort while you're gone. And say hello to your Uncle for me, please. He's such a nice fellow!"

"Alright, will do"

Gwen knows, so she doesn't push him. David appreciates that immensely, because then he doesn't have to tell her no.

"Also, I won't be alone"

There's another reason David can't go, immensely more intense than all the others. Starting with an M and ending in an L, and with a nasty attitude to boot.

Gwen just nods.

"I mean, I know that. That's why I was asking" She laughs. "It's not like I'm _actually_ doubting you can lord over an _empty_ campsite on your own, you're you, David, I know you got that. But that" she jabs her thumb at their last remaining camper, "that was a handful with two of us on the scene. I guess I just worry. You sure you can handle it?"

"Of course I can" David replies, with a reassuring grin.

David would soon learn, however, that he could not.

* * *

Max isn't supposed to be awake. Of course, there's tons of crap Max isn't supposed to do, and he does it all anyway, so, is there any real point in worrying about it? No, not really, would have been Max's answer. 

He trudges through the side of his tent, up the hill and to the Dining Hall. There are tears in his eyes, but he scrubs them away with a growl. He isn't going to cry, dammit!

He walks across the tables, arms akimbo, and sees how difficult it is to fall off (very difficult, is the answer). He collects up all the sporks and makes a tower of them. He writes messages on the walls in smeared mashed potatoes until every corner has an obscene picture, phrase, or both.

When he gets sick of that he TPs the Councilor's Cabin.

When he gets bored of that shit, he decides to take a walk through the woods, 'cause his head hurts and he wants to clear his mind. And maybe trudging through some undergrowth or weeds or some shit, will help?

The stream gurgles beside him, huge lumbering pines towering above him. The stars are out, but Max can barely see them through the green canopy. He brushes the sole of his shoe against the mossy side of the stream bed as he walks, smearing the green stuff all over the rocks. It makes him think of blood, and he's reminded of that busted lip he got a while back. Concrete was pretty unforgiving, he had to say. No give at all. Crap.

The mossy muddy rocks soon give way to grass, before eventually, steadily stretching out into a flower covered meadow. Max sees little dandelions, here and there, popping up beside the riverbed, and then he gazes up and out in front of him, and suddenly there is just a sea of yellow.

"Woah. The hell?"

He takes a few more steps forward, hand at his side, feeling the soft brush of little yellow petals against his fingertips, and then… then he sees David. Gosh darn David.

"Max?" David calls, and damn, he sounds so concerned, fuck. "Max, what are you doing out here?"

Max doesn't answer, but throws his head back and groans loudly. Just his luck. Of course, David happens to be here of all places, just happens to be in the one place he stumbles upon. Ugh. Max didn't need this bullshit.

He throws himself down on the ground beside David, because there's no reason to do otherwise. Not like David could make him go back to his tent. Camp was over, so David had no authority over him, really.

"What are _you_ doing out here, huh, David? Isn't it past your bedtime?"

He shrugs. His hair is a mess and his stupid cheery yellow bandana is all askew, and his green eyes are just a little red. He looks like Max feels, actually. Tired. "I couldn't really sleep, so I thought I'd get a little air. As I like to say, an unstuffy mind is a clear mind, and it was way too stuffy in my cabin"

"That's fucking dumb"

David makes a disapproving hum, but doesn't immediately hop on Max's back like the boy was expecting. Instead, he gives Max a once over, sees how he's hunched beside him and with his face in his knees, and then he says,

"Couldn't sleep either?"

Max hisses in annoyance, but nods.

"Want to talk about it?"

"No" Max replies, and his voice doesn't crack. Not at all. Tears don't start streaming down his face, because Max doesn't cry. He doesn't have to push down a whine from escaping his throat, because Max is tough, and he's strong and he's fine, and a little nightmare doesn't change that.

He's surprised when he feels arms wrap around him, pulling him into a loose, half hug, half embrace. There's a chin resting on the top of his head, and cold, knobby fingers running through his hair, and a voice cooing warmly at him. He doesn't push away, because the effort would be too great. Not worth the energy.

He also doesn't lean into the attention, doesn't curl into his counselor's side and cry into his shirt, because that's dumb. Who'd believe that trash?

He's Max, after all. Menace of Lake Lilac.

The last thing he'd do is fall asleep, while David rubs circles on his back and mutters stupid little lullabies. 

Who do you take him for? Come on.

* * *

"What's this?" Max demands, pointing a fork at his plate.

"They're pancakes," David replies happily.

"Pancakes, shaped into smiley faces… Are you three, David?"

David laughs. His hands are still covered in pancake mix, well, flour actually, because apparently David liked to make his pancakes from scratch (no boxed stuff for me, no siree, he'd proclaimed, at like 4:30 in the morning), when he sits down beside Max. He grabs a puppy shaped pancake from the community plate between them, and let's rip a couple high pitched barks.

Max groans, which doesn't deter his dumbass Counselor in the slightest.

"C'mon" He says, in that annoyingly cheerful, awfully knowing tone, "You know you like it, Max. Isn't this so much better than a _boring_ breakfast of say... oatmeal?"

"Oatmeal is disgusting, watery trash" Max replies, which produces a wide, satisfied smile from David, "-but that doesn't make this any less stupid"

"Sure Max. Whatever you say"

* * *

"I don't need anyone, and I definitely don't need you" Max shouts, "So just leave me the fuck alone, alright"

For a moment there is only silence, beside the crackle of the campfire.

David looks startled, like a deer in headlights. He's shocked, but he isn't certain why. He'd just… he'd thought he could make some difference, in this struggling kid's life… He thought he could make him feel happy, or loved, but… who was he kidding? What was he really helping?

Of course Max didn't want sympathy, or pity. He wasn't looking for handouts, and he certainly hadn't come to Camp Campbell searching for that missing father figure he never had to fill a hole in his life or something dumb. No, Max, like David, came to Camp Campbell because he had no other choice. He was only here because he had no other options ( because he was trapped, just like him) and David can't believe he'd forgotten that.

He digs his fingers into his bandana, and stares miserably at the half burnt marshmallow dripping into the flames. The fire eats at the sugary wax like wolves to the slaughter.

"Maybe you're right" It's Max's turn to look utterly shocked, "Maybe you don't need me. You've been doing just fine up to now without me in your life, after all, and in theory, you'll be just fine when I'm gone. I know that" He clenches his fists, and sighs, but then David smiles softly, and glances over at Max with this look Max just can't identify, "But Max, I want to be here. I want to be here in your life. I want to be there for you and it's not just because it's a requirement, or _necessity-_ I know you've been doing fine on your own, and you can take care of yourself, but… you deserve better. You deserve to have someone who _cares_ and I, I care Max"

"I _care_ about you, Max, and I want to be there for you, and if you want me to keep caring, I will, and if you don't... I'll step away, I promise, I just-" He's tearing up, a bit.

"I'll think about it"

David pauses, hands frozen in front of his chest, eyes wet and wide, "Uh… what?"

"Said I'll think about it, alright, David? I mean, it's either that or an orphanage or some shit, right? I mean, them bitches ain't coming back"

"Max, please" David says weakly, "Those aren't very nice words"

"Bite me" Max snaps back, but it lacks any real vitriol.

That dumbass speech seemed to drain him of any real bite.

He feels all tingly, instead. Warm, maybe.

Damn August heat. Ugh.

* * *

"I think it's about kindness" David says, late one early August afternoon, "It's about showing kindness to others, even when they aren't always nice to you. Especially if they aren't nice to you, because they need it more? And I don't know, sometimes that kindness makes its way back to you, if that makes sense"

Max purses his lips. His knuckles are white against the fishing pole in his grip. The waters of Lake Lilac lap against his toes.

"Yeah, I guess" He leans against David's side, but refuses to look at him. He refuses to acknowledge the action, to acknowledge that it's comforting, having someone to lean on, and keeps talking like nothing happened, "Yeah, guess I can see that"

It is nice, though, having someone to lean on.

David smiles warmly, 

"Wanna get some pizza?"

Max nods. He tosses his fishing rod away, further down the dock, with a noise of disinterest.

"Yeah. This fishing shit ain't dip"

"It just takes patience, my young apprentice! I'll teach you" David exclaims. Max punches him in the arm.

"Shut up" But he's laughing.

He's happy.

"That better be a promise" Max mutters, under his breath.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> There's probably like a thousand Dadvid fics, but forget it, here's another one anyway. Because why not?


End file.
